Essay based on the sources

Essay

After doing research on the Maria Hertogh riots, we found out a lot on the people involved and the cause of the riots. We learnt that there are three main ideas and points to learn from the sources, that answers to the question: Why must we remember its importance?



















Source A: Our first point is that the riots were very severe, and that many people were injured and killed and it was mayhem everywhere. Source A states that "18 people were killed and 173 were injured. Nine were killed by rioters while the others were killed by policemen". This tells us that the Malays treated the case very seriously and the riots were very serious and many people were killed or injured from the riots, regardless whether if they were involved in the riots or not. From here we can learn that the main idea is to maintain racial harmony since modern Singapore now is made up of 4 different races: Chinese, Malay, Indian, Eurasian. To prevent such chaos and riots regarding racial issues from happening again, we must remember the importance of the riots happened in the past days.



Source B: From the source it shows that the casualties of the riot was very serious as from the source it shows, 5 dead 100 hurt therefore this shows that the casualties of the riot was very serious as it was fatal and huge number of people was injured and the fact that the riot was fatal as 5 people were killed were serious as someone had died in the riot thus indicating that the authorities had to use violence in order to control the riot thus concluding that the riot was very serious. From the riots we can learn the main idea is to ensure that we should not let sensitive information get posted online on social medias so irresponsibly.

Source C: The British government were insensitive about the case which resulted in them playing a part in causing the riots to take place later. The source shows that Maria truely loved her foster mother, and did not wish to leave her to join her biological parents at all. However, during the battle over her custody, the British government were insensitive about the case and handed Maria's custody over to the people she did not not even want to be with. This led to many Malays feeling sad for the mother and daughter, and that the British were biased to their race. This resulted in the Malays going around attacking Europeans out of anger. Therefore to make sure that tragedies like the Maria Hertogh riots never happen again, we must not be biased to any race in our country to prevent such incident from happening again.

Hence, based on the three sources, we can learn three main ideas that exist in modern Singapore today, till now. We must learn from them and learn to remember the importance of this riot to prevent such tragedy from happening in Singapore again.

Sources Regarding Maria Hertogh Riots

Source A 

After the war, the Hertoghs launched a legal battle for the custody of their daughter after they received information in 1949 of her whereabouts in Malaya. The custody battle attracted intense media attention worldwide. Photographs in newspapers of a Muslim girl in a Catholic convent and claims that she had bowed down to the Virgin Mary affected religious sensitivities and whipped up emotions. I can infer from this source that it was one of the reasons that the Maria Hertogh riot started.From the source 'The custody battle attracted intense media attention worldwide.Photographs of a muslim girl in a Catholic convent and claims that she had bow down to the Virgin Mary affected religious sensitivities and whipped up emotions.' Therefore from this quote i can infer of how the Maria Hertogh riot started as the Muslims were offended by the Christians as there was a Muslim girl worshipping Virgin Mary which is a Chrisitian god therefore they were not happy and was angry therefore they wanted revenge .Therefore this is one of the reasons of what casued the riot. 

Source Extracted : http://eresources.nlb.gov.sg/infopedia/articles/SIP_83_2005-02-02.html?s=Maria hertogh Tan Lay Yuen National Library board Singapore 2005

Source B

Altogether, 18 people were killed and 173 were injured. Nine were killed by rioters while the others were killed by policemen. Aside from a Police Inspector and a Special Constable, those killed by rioters had little to do with the Hertogh case and their murder was motivated more by fanaticism and racial hatred.

From source A i can tell that the rioters were merciless. From source A says ’Those killed by rioters had little to do with the Hertogh case .’Therefore from this quote this tells that the rioters were merciless as they killed innocent people which are not involved without even thinking therefore from Source A i can conclude that the rioters were merciless.

Source C

The acts in the riots by the rioters

They set up barricades along major roads, set cars and houses on fire and took control of districts in the vicinity of Sultan Mosque, North Bridge Road and Jalan Besar. Rioting was stopped only after two troops of the Internal Security Battalion were called in, supported by several Malays within the troops. Even so, scattered attacks continued over two days. A 24-hour curfew had to be imposed for two weeks before British and Malay troops and the Constabulary regained control of the situation.

From the source i can tell that the acts of the riot was very serious. As from the quote ‘ They set up barricades along major roads, set cars and houses on fire and took control of districts in the vicinity of Sultan Mosque, North Bridge Road and Jalan Besar.’ Therefore from this quote i can tell that the riot was very serious as they have burn house and cars down which results can be very fatal as it can cause death and they had control vicinities despite the government controlling the districts therefore from the source i can conclude that the acts of the riots were very serious.

From the picture above, i can tell that the riot was severe . From the source it shows that a car is being burned down in the streets and fierce flames engulfing from the car. Therefore from the source i can conclude that the riot were severe as the car was being burned down therefore indicating that the rioters had the control of the street and were doing what they feel like doing therefore this shows that the riot was severe.

Source D

From the source, this picture shows that the feelings of Maria towards Aminah was love. From the source, It shows that Maria was hugging her foster mother which is Aminah tightly and is smiling like she is enjoying it. Therefore from the source i can conclude that Maria loved Aminah as she is hugging her foster mother and smiling thus indicating she is satisfied and had no complains therefore she loved her foster mother thus her feeling towards of Maria towards Aminah was love.

Source E

From the source it shows that the casualties of the riot was very serious as from the source it shows, 5 dead 100 hurt therefore this shows that the casualties of the riot was very serious as it was fatal and huge number of people was injured and the fact that the riot was fatal as 5 people were killed were serious as someone had died in the riot thus indicating that the authorities had to use violence in order to control the riot thus concluding that the riot was very serious.

Source F

We see from this pictorial source that maria is seen with her mother in a Catholic convent beside a Nun. The British colonial authorities also failed to defuse an explosive situation when emotional reports appeared in the local press of the custody battle accompanied by sensational media photographs of a Muslim girl in a Catholic convent.The riots highlighted the insensitive way the media handled religious and racial issues in Singapore.

Source G

Minutes

Total meeting time: 3h 30 min

1st Meeting
1.Date: 16 August 2014
2.Time: 30 minutes
3. Venue: Zhi Teng's house
4. Members Present: 3 ( Zhi Teng, Glenn and Jie Quan)
5. Members absent: 1 ( Azariah - had an appointment outside)
6. Issues Discussed: Compare & Contrast of Sources A and B, HI Booklet pg 7
7.Plan of  Action:
Jie Quan - Does the similarities for the C & C
Glenn - Does the differences for the C & C
Zhi Teng and Azariah - Discuss about the sources required and objectives of the project

2nd Meeting
1. Date: 18 August 2014
2. Time: 1 hour
3. Venue: School Computer Lab
4. Members Present: 4 ( Zhi Teng, Glenn, Jie Quan and Azariah)
5. Members absent:0
6. Issues Discussed: Different types of sources of relevance to the topic, Maria Hertogh Riot
7. Plan of Action:
Jie Quan - Created the blog, then created and started on the C & C post (Post 1)
Glenn - Created and started on the minutes post (Post 2)
Zhi Teng - Created and started on the sources post (Post 3)
Azariah - Created the essay post (Post 4)

3rd Meeting
1. Date: 19 August 2014
2. Time : 1 hour
3. Venue: School Computer Lab
4. Members Present: 4 ( Zhi Teng, Glenn, Jie Quan and Azariah)
5. Members absent: 0
6.  Issues Discussed: textual sources of the topic
7. Plan of Action: To find pictorial sources

4th Meeting
1. Date: 20 August 2014
2. Time : 1 hour
3. Venue: School Computer Lab
4. Members Present: 4 ( Zhi Teng, Glenn, Jie Quan and Azariah)
5. Members absent:0
6.  Issues Discussed: Organise and finalise the information gathered on Google Document
7. Plan of Action:
Searched for 2 sources each

5th Meeting
1. Date: 22 August 2014
2. Time: 1 hour
3. Venue: School Computer Lab
4. Members Present: 4 ( Zhi Teng, Glenn, Jie Quan and Azariah)
5. Members absent: 0
6. Issues Discussed: Finish searching for sources and start on essay
7. Plan of Action:
All discussed and started to work on essay

Comparison Of Sources (pg 7)

Similarity:

Both Sources A and B are similar in content that both David Marshall and the Chinese students are facing political repression by the British government. David Marshall. In Source A, the British government gave David Marshall a lot of problems when the latter became the Chief Minister. In Source B, the British government closed certain Chinese schools officially.

Source A states that "And oh they couldn't give me any office - it took a long time - government offices were extremely overloaded - and there was a lot of difficulty." This tells me that David Marshall faced political repression and was given a lot of problems by the British government when he became the Chief Minister. 

Similarly, Source B states that "government's official closure of their schools". This tells me that many Chinese students were facing political repression from the British government, which tried to prevent them from participating in the strikes.

Therefore, both Sources, A and B, are similar in content that both parties faced political repression by the British government.

Difference:

Both Sources, A and B, are different in content about that how both parties hoped to achieve their goal.In Source A, David Marshall talks about achieving independence, whereas in Source B, the Chinese students wanted to achieve a revolutionary curriculum.Source A states that" Merdeka! People of Singapore!"This shows that David Marshall wanted the citizens of the country to look towards the freedom of the country as it is still in the colonial rule of a foreign country.In contrast, Source B states that"Out on the streets, Chinese students ignored the government's official closure of their schools, and in a repeat of the previous year locked themselves into their classrooms, where they established their own revolutionary curriculum." This shows that the Chinese students did not want to submit themselves to a foreign government and wanted a change in their education system since the system then was all English-based, totally ignoring the Chinese system.  Hence, 

both Sources, A and B, are different in content about that how both parties hoped to achieve their goal.